John Kerry: Haiti “Taking Steps” to Hold Free, Fair Elections

Above: United States Secretary of State John Kerry (right) with Haiti President Michel Martelly earlier this year (Photo: OP Haiti)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Haiti is “taking steps to hold free and fair parliamentary elections and to seat a new Haitian Parliament,” United States Secretary of State John Kerry told the US Congress in a recent communication.

In a statement published in the Federal Register and released by the US Embassy in Port-au-Prince, Kerry said the government of Haiti was “respecting the independence of the judiciary” and “combating corruption and improving governance, including passage of the anticorruption law to enable prosecution of corrupt officials and implementing financial transparency and accountability requirements for government institutions.”

The certification by the Secretary of State is required before certain US funding can be provided to the country’s government.

It was related to the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act.

The US has been among Haiti’s international partners urging the country to hold legislative and municipal elections that have been delayed for nearly three years.

Kerry met with Haiti President Michel Martelly during the latter’s visit to the White House in February.

At the time, he said Haiti’s “indicators have gone up and that’s the direction we want to see it going.”